New WellPoint CEO pick signals focus on provider collaboration

In a surprise move, WellPoint announced Tuesday it has named Joseph Swedish, a former hospital official who has never managed a public company, as its new chief executive officer.

Swedish, who will assume WellPoint's helm on March 25, has spent his entire career on the provider side of healthcare, most recently as the president and CEO of Trinity Health, which operates 47 hospitals across the country. He also led Colorado-based health system Centura Health and was an executive at hospital company HCA, WellPoint noted.

Naming Swedish as CEO signals WellPoint's focus on collaboration and integrated healthcare delivery. His experience on the provider side will help WellPoint partner with healthcare providers to continue improving efficiency and lowering costs.

"My arrival is representative of the landscape transforming in healthcare," Swedish told the Indianapolis Business Journal.

He will be paid $1.25 million in salary and as much as $3.75 million in bonuses. He'll also receive stock options valued at as much as $8 million, plus $3.56 million for leaving Trinity, Bloomberg reported.

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